Los Angeles Birth Injuries Lawyer

A significant number of children born in the United States each year are born with a birth injury.

Usually these problems occur during pregnancy or during the developmental process. But some babies are needless victims of birth injuries. Their injuries were caused by a medical mistake, usually during labor, in which the baby’s brain is damaged because it did not get enough oxygen or other nutrients.

As a Los Angeles birth injury lawyer at Pocrass & De Los Reyes, we are experienced in investigating the causes of your child’s birth injury. Our birth injury attorneys have earned significant verdicts and settlements for clients who have suffered birth injuries. To talk to a birth injury attorney, contact us for a FREE, no-obligation consultation.

Common Causes of Birth Injuries

Birth injuries can be caused during pregnancy, labor, delivery, or just after birth. They may be caused by an avoidable medical error or by the negligence of a doctor, midwife, nurse, anesthesiologist, clinic, hospital or HMO, in which case you may have a claim against one or more of them.

Some common causes or results of birth injuries are:

Oxygen deprivation probably caused by the placenta or umbilical cord.

The baby was allowed to remain in the birth canal too long.

A delay in ordering a caesarian section.

Poor use of vacuum extractors or forceps.

A delay in treating a baby’s developing lack of oxygen (fetal distress).

The placenta separates from the wall of the womb (abrupted placenta), causing the mother severe bleeding, which causes the baby to suffer severe blood loss.

Failure to diagnosis or properly treat seizures after delivery.

Failure to treat the mother for toxemia, high blood pressure, or diabetes.

Meconium Aspiration Syndrome, in which the baby chokes on its own meconium (fecal matter) and amniotic fluid.

What Birth Injuries Can Mean to a Family

If the injury is minor, some children recover quickly and on their own.

Other children and their families may face severe problems, ranging from mental retardation to paralysis. These families will know a lifetime of emotional and physical challenges while encountering huge medical bills for therapy, surgeries, medications, nursing and attendant care, and special education services.

Some children may never be able to care for themselves, and these families will have to cope with staggering costs to provide their children long-term security and a significant quality of life.

In addition to the huge dollar costs a family will now encounter, the family also will pay a tremendous emotional cost.

Unless these families are able to afford the necessary resources for the care of their child, they will live under extreme stress and time-limiting boundaries as they provide 24/7 care to their severely disabled child.

Why Should I Bring a Lawsuit?

You not only deserve to be compensated for your pain and suffering, but most importantly you deserve to be free from your new financial hardships.

Compensation for a child who is the victim of a birth injury, will assist you with your child’s:

Medical costs.

Future medical costs.

Therapy and rehabilitation.

Education expenses.

Living expenses.

Pain and suffering.

Adaptive equipment such as wheelchairs or adapted vans.

Deadline to Bringing a Case

You or a family member should talk to a birth injury lawyer as soon as possible.

Contact a Los Angeles birth injury lawyer so that he can preserve evidence, get witness statements, and ensure that the medical records accurately reflect the medical procedures that were undertaken.

There also are statutes of limitations – deadlines – that must be met. If you miss the deadline to file, you give up all rights to ever file a case, regardless of how badly the money is needed.

The Cost of a Birth Injury Attorney

A Los Angeles birth injury lawyer at Pocrass & De Los Reyes charge you nothing until your case is resolved.

We represent children and their families throughout California. Though our headquarters are in Los Angeles, we can come to you wherever you are in the state.

Contact Us

Contact the birth injury attorneys at Pocrass & De Los Reyes for a free, no-obligation, and confidential consultation.

Common Types of Birth Injuries

Each year thousands of babies are born with birth injuries.

Though there are many types of birth injuries, some of the most common include:

Cerebral Palsy

Brachial Plexus Injury

Erbs Palsy

Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy often results from injury to the brain during pregnancy or during delivery due to a lack of oxygen or blood flow to the brain.

It can cause neurological disorders that range from slight to severe, including difficulty in controlling motor functions, an inability to walk, poor or no balance, developmental delays, or seizures.

For those with slight Cerebral Palsy, medications and therapy may allow your child to live a normal life. Those who have severe Cerebral Palsy may need extensive medical treatment and therapy throughout their lives.

Brachial Plexus Injury

If a baby’s head and neck are twisted during childbirth, the network of brachial plexus nerves running from the spine and through the neck and armpit region and into the arm, could be damaged.

This could result in partial or complete paralysis of one arm, loss of muscle control in an arm or hand, or facial paralysis. If your child sustained a brachial plexus injury, it may have been diagnosed as Erb’s Palsy.

Erb’s Palsy

Erb’s Palsy is a brachial plexus injury. If your doctor or midwife did not monitor your pregnancy appropriately, he could have misdiagnosed your due date or the size of the baby.

If the baby was too large to fit through the birth canal, the trauma the baby suffered going through could have caused brachial plexus injury or Erb’s Palsy.